Cycling around the world

One of the cool things about cycling to work on a regular basis is the distance you ultimately cover.

I thought it would be interesting to see how long it took me to cycle around the world, simply by riding to work.

My monthly ride total averages about 600 km / month, riding year-round. So, starting in February 2004, I began tracking my progress.

I’m graphing this by splitting the circumference of the earth at the equator (40,075.16 kilometers or 24,901.55 miles ) into 600 km intervals. Yes, I know this is rather unscientific, and there are all kinds of other variables, but it makes for a neat visual and helps motivate me.

Of course, I’m not the only one to “ride around the world”. These folks are also doing it (for real), but they’re driving. Sheesh…

UPDATE: June, 2010. Wow, I hadn’t updated this graph for a few years so thought I’d plug in some numbers and see how close I was to my goal. 2009 was a nasty year, as I was sick for a few months. Even with the decreased mileage and bike time that year, though, I managed to complete my “global ride”. Woo hoo!

UPDATE: February, 2011. I’m trying to decide what my next goal should be. I could loop back around the world the other direction but really, it’s the same ride — to work and back.  I’ll have to come up with something different; perhaps shorter distances but more goals each year.